


Picturesque Time

by Lady_S



Category: Supernatural, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alpha John Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Implied Mpreg, John's POV, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, OFC is a baby, Omega Carl Grimes, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Rated M just in case, The Author Regrets Nothing, implied surgery, male lactation mentioned but not shown, mostly fluff with some sprinkles of angst, this has the SPN characters in the TWDverse but it's not overly relevant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 14:20:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15708972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_S/pseuds/Lady_S
Summary: After the hectic, and downright terrifying, events of the day, the calm after the storm finally arrived later that evening. Carl, though still a little loopy from all the pain medication, was alive, awake, and stable enough for everyone to stop hovering over him and take a breath.





	Picturesque Time

**Author's Note:**

> Another grimechester oneshot! This one prominently features both John and Carl this time! gwaylion on tumblr requested the topic of this fic to contain John and Carl having a pup!
> 
> I made a soundboard on ambient-mixer.com that I listened to on repeat while I was writing. If you're interested, you can find it here: https://movies-other.ambient-mixer.com/alexandria-infirmary--twd-
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr at @grimechestr! Feel free to stop by!

After the hectic, and downright terrifying, events of the day, the calm after the storm finally arrived later that evening. Carl, though still a little loopy from all the pain medication, was alive, awake, and stable enough for everyone to stop hovering over him and take a breath. Rick had been dragged away by Glenn to get something to eat, vaguely lightheaded from the adrenaline rush and the blood transfusion, and Rosita and Crowley were satisfied with their stitch work, so they slipped out to finish cleaning up.

 

With the chaos over, and the room now quiet, save for the ambient sounds of the electric fan and the cicadas outside, John leaned forward to get closer to the bed. He wanted to reach for Carl’s hand, but it was rightly occupied. The baby was asleep on Carl’s chest, swaddled in the softest blanket, completely oblivious to all the panic she had caused and how close she came to killing her mother. Carl idly smoothed his thumb over her head carefully as he watched her breathe in and out with his remaining eye.

 

John didn’t dare speak, as he wanted to give Carl this moment. All mothers deserved that picturesque time where they held their sleeping newborns, and felt that serene joy of having successfully brought a new life into the world. Carl especially - the poor omega had spent the past nine months basically bedridden, with either Rosita or Crowley watching every vital sign they could, and he would apologize to anyone who’d listen about how “useless” he was. At one point, he’d even tried to sneak out to take a quick watch shift, but when he was found, Rick cuffed him to the metal bed, determined to keep his son and grandchild alive.

 

But the hard part was over. The pup was born, and given a clean bill of health, while Carl’s wound was stitched and wrapped up to help it heal and prevent any infection. Despite the danger, everything was alright for now. John just wanted to enjoy that.

 

“How are you feeling?” he finally asked, keeping his voice low as not to wake the baby.

 

Carl let out a sigh through his nose, but answered anyway:

 

“Tired. Like, in general, but also of being in this room.”

 

John smirked at the response, glad to see the brunette was still well enough to act like himself. “I bet you are. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

 

Carl shook his head, “I can’t.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“She’s gonna get hungry soon.”

 

John let out a puff of air that sounded like a single laugh. “I may be old, but I still remember how to feed a pup.”

 

“Oh, no, I trust you, John. But there’s no formula.” When the alpha frowned in confusion, Carl explained, “It’s all expired. Glenn went on runs and checked.”

 

John froze, trying to connect the dots in his head.

 

“…Then how do you plan on feeding her?”

 

Carl shrugged casually. “Breastfeed her. Like I did Judy.”

 

John still didn’t move, unsure if he heard his mate correctly.

 

“You breastfed Judith.”

 

The omega nodded, and his face kept a neutral expression, completely unfazed at what he was saying. “For the first year, yeah. Until we got separated when the prison was attacked.”

 

“..You said you were thirteen when Judith was born.”

 

Another nod.

 

John sat back in his chair. Every so once in a while, Carl would share something like this from his past, and it’d break John’s heart. It often kept him awake at night, imagining Sammy, his own omega son, being forced to grow up way too damn fast in the same way. The chilling part, the part that made his inner alpha flare with disgust and the desire to protect, was how casual Carl spoke of the horrors. It was all normal to him, mothers dying in childbirth, barely teenaged omegas breastfeeding their siblings, insane men and women destroying others’ homes, it was just how to world worked. With every story Carl told, he completely understood Rick’s conflicting attitudes towards the omega - trusting him with anything, but letting nothing threatening come close enough to hurt him.

 

(Until John himself, anyway - John still wasn’t sure if the fellow alpha genuinely liked him or if he was just being nice for Carl’s sake.)

 

John leaned forward again, this time lifting his hand to stroke his mate’s bangs.

 

“Baby, I am so sor-”

 

“Don’t.” Carl interrupted him, calmly and without any trace of anger or remorse, “I’m glad I did. I got Judith this far. And now I can feed this little one, too.” He reached his free hand towards John, giving him that small, sweet smile in reassurance, “Now, stop feeling bad for me, and start helping me think up names.”

 

The alpha nodded sharply, having been given an order, then felt himself grin at the sincerity in Carl’s eye.

 

“Yessir. But..didn’t you plan to name her after somebody?”

 

Carl looked back down at the newborn, “I thought about it. But..that’s a lot of names to choose from.” His face kept its serenity, but his quiet tone only added to the sense of loss in his voice, “Lori, Andrea, Sophia, Beth, Amy, Jacqui..”

 

John listened intently, but when Carl trailed off, he decided to keep asking questions - he knew that was not a memory lane that the omega needed to go down right now. “Who’s Judith named after?”

 

“One of my teachers, I think. I can’t remember exactly. I just liked the name.” He paused, then turned back to John, “Who’re Sam and Dean named after?”

 

John stretched a little in his chair, “Their grandparents. Mary’s parents, Samuel and Deanna.”

 

“We knew a Deanna. She led this place before Dad. We knew a Jesse, too.”

 

“I used to know a woman named Ellen, and she had a daughter…Jo, I think. I also knew a Kate. And one wonderful woman named Missouri.”

 

“Like the state? That’s cool. Never met anyone with a state for a name.” Carl paused in thought, “Is it weird to name someone after a state if the state doesn’t really exist anymore?”

 

The older man shrugged his shoulders once. “Who knows. Culture’s changing.”

 

“So many choices.” Carl’s eyelid began to droop, “Too many.”

 

John watched Carl fight to stay awake - his icy blue eye would close, then reopen after a few seconds with a jerk.

 

“Baby, you’re exhausted. Get some sleep.”

 

“No,” Carl protested weakly, “we have to name her.”

 

“Not right now, we don’t.” The alpha persisted, pulling up the blanket that had pooled around Carl’s hips to cover the omega’s chest, “We can do that later. You need to rest.”

 

“What about Dad?” John got the feeling his mate was ignoring him, “He gave a lot of blood. I wanna make sure he’s okay.”

 

“He’s fine now that he’s eaten. You need-”

 

“Sam and Dean will be back with Maggie soon. She’s gonna be pissed wh-”

 

“Carl,” John disliked being so forceful, especially after promising himself he wouldn’t be the drill sergeant that raised Sam and Dean anymore, so he tried to balance his firm command with a soft voice, “Your body needs to heal. It needs to rest.”

 

The brunette began to shake his head, and opened his mouth to speak, but John stopped him again.

 

“You’ve done this before, you know how it goes. The best way to help everyone is to get better.”

 

Carl abandoned the alpha’s gaze, looking back to the baby, almost like he didn’t want to admit he was wrong. After a few moments, he nodded, before moving his arms so that John could take the pup from him. “Your turn.” he commented.

 

John smiled, not only pleased Carl had agreed to rest, but now he was going to hold his child. Once he had settled her into his arms, he thanked God again for the fortunate outcome. Even before the apocalypse, he was convinced that all Winchesters and those who loved them were cursed, and there was no happiness to ever be gleaned from associating with himself or his family. But after finding Carl on that road, and being brought back to Alexandria with his boys, and now her…He  _never_ , not even in his wildest dreams, thought he would have  _any_  of this - a better relationship with his sons, a sedentary home, a mate, a newborn - it all would’ve been impossible a year ago.

 

But, here he was, holding his fourth pup, all because Carl’s suppressants had run out at the same time a group of crazies made a second attempt at slaughtering everyone in Alexandria. Who’d have thought.

 

The pup shifted a little in her sleep, and John grinned, before reaching his nose down to nuzzle her head ever-so-slightly. She was too small and too fragile for a proper scenting from her alpha parent just yet, but she should start getting exposed to his and Carl’s scents as soon as possible to strengthen their bonds early. At least, that’s what he was always told.

 

John glanced over at Carl, and was content to see his mate was asleep, judging by the peaceful expression and the quiet breathing. He then frowned at himself, realizing he forgot to kiss Carl goodnight, and tell him how proud he was of his omega for how gracefully he had faced the past nine months, and that he loved Carl so much, he felt alright with letting some of the world of before slip away.

 

The alpha sighed, turning his attention back to the baby, gazing at her and trying to drink up these precious moments into his memory.

 

“Oh, well,” he whispered, “we’ll tell him when he wakes up.”


End file.
